What’s the most important task for hotel and guest stays? Isn’t it maintaining the quality of the place and guest satisfaction? If you know that’s true and have been lagging behind then there’s one such startup, named Keypr, who is working to upgrade this known experience with the use of technology.
And Keypr has today announced that it has secured a hefty $19 million investment in its Series A1 fundraising round to further be able to expand its cloud services, keyless entry service, and mobile apps to new avenues. This is not just a significant development but also Keypr’s first round since 2014, when it picked seed and angel funding.
The fundraising round was led by Karlani Capital, with participation from Simon Turner, former Starwood Hotels & Resorts executive and former CEO of Bally Technologies, Richard Haddrill.
Both of the strategic investors will now be joining other prominent innovators on KEYPR’s advisory board. Turner goes on to speak about the need for technological advancement in the hospitality industry, such that it leads to a better guest staying experience and increase the owner’s profit at the same time. He further adds,
Consumer technology has and will continue to evolve very quickly and, to stay competitive, hotels will need to keep pace. What KEYPR’s platform is offering in terms of proven effectiveness, scope, cost-efficiency, and adaptability is very value-additive to both owners, operators and brands.
Commenting on the fundraising round, Rudy Karsan, founder of Karlani Capital said:
I am a huge believer in both the KEYPR team and their vision. They have truly created the most comprehensive platform that exists in the hospitality industry today. I am so excited to be working together with them to grow and scale the business even further.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Keypr was launched by a trio of co-founder, namely Nizar Allibhoy, Mark Anderson and Sabir Jaffer back in 2013. The sole purpose was kicking off this entrepreneurial journey was to develop an efficient and intuitive cloud platform that’ll be adopted by hotels, casinos and luxury residences to provide a friction-free stay experience.
Speaking on how Keypr is helping transform the hospitality industry as a whole, Nizar Allibhoy, KEYPR’s Co-Founder and CEO in a statement said:
Guest expectations in terms of service and experience have changed immensely. We see this being addressed in ground transportation, airlines and online travel agencies, but the hotel sector has been slower to respond.
KEYPR’s ability to deliver personalized services, send offers and upgrades instantly and, most importantly, fix problems in real-time is essential in a marketplace that is so competitive.
As mentioned in the official press statement, the company plans to employ this freshly infused capital towards continued platform innovation, scaling the operations, and expanding on the sales as well as marketing efforts.
The company is also looking to advance research and development on Guest Experience Management System (GEMS) and KEYPR Intelligent Lock Technology (KILT) proprietary softwares services. These two work in amalgamation with each another, where the former allows the guests to bypass the front desk and go directly to their rooms. The latter, on the other hand, allows them to check into their rooms without the key and just a mobile app.
Over the years, Keypr has developed a decent portfolio by signing up major hotels and luxury residential properties. The company has brand deals with Denihan Hospitality, Proper Hospitality, L.E. Hotels, and Greystone Hotels, among others. And it is already gearing up to deploy its technology stack at Odawa Casino Resort and Lac Vieux Desert.
